Hardening its stance, the Pakistani Taliban have announced the boycott of negotiations on Friday with the North West Frontier Province government unless it releases all its detained members under a deal signed last month.
The move came days after the Tehrik-e-Taliban warned the provincial government that it would scrap the peace agreement, bitterly opposed by the United States, if all of its provisions are not implemented by June 23. "We will not attend any meeting with the government until our prisoners are released as agreed in the May 21 deal," Taliban leader Ali Bakht told the Daily Times.
The Swat peace committee and the NWFP government had invited the Taliban for a jirga in Peshawar on Friday to iron out differences on the peace agreement signed on May 21. The Taliban set June 23 as the deadline for implementing all clauses of the agreement, including the release of prisoners and withdrawal of troops from the restive Swat valley. Taliban spokesmen have claimed that all prisoners should have been freed 15 days after the signing of the deal.
Meanwhile, the federal government has authorised the NWFP government to enter into deals with the Taliban for ensuring peace in the province, Rehman Malik, the advisor to the prime minister on interior affairs, has said. Malik had sparked a major controversy earlier this month by telling journalists that the federal government intended to scrap the peace deal in Swat as the Taliban had not stopped their attacks on security forces.
Despite the signing of the peace deal, violence has continued in Swat. Jamaat-e-Islami leader Zamir Khan was shot dead by militants at Kabal in Swat on Thursday.
Malik said the centre will back the NWFP administration's bid to restore peace in the province. "The federal government will support the provincial government in its efforts to eliminate extremism and improve security in troubled areas," Malik told a meeting of officials of the federal and provincial governments at the NWFP chief minister's secretariat in Peshawar on Thursday.
The meeting, which lasted nine hours, discussed the law and order situation in the NWFP and adjacent tribal areas. Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan, Chief Minister Ameer Khan Hoti and NWFP government's peace envoy Afrasiab Khattak attended the meeting.
Sources said the NWFP government was directed to chalk out short- and long-term plans for countering militancy.
Under the short-term plan, the strength of the police force will be increased. Paramilitary Frontier Corps and Frontier Constabulary, backed by armoured personnel carriers, will provide security in the provincial capital of Peshawar. For this purpose, paramilitary forces will be called from other parts of Pakistan and deployed in and around Peshawar.
The NWFP government was directed to prepare an extensive long-term security plan outlining recruitment of police force, armaments and communication equipment, sources said.